A Losing Battle
by Alastair
Summary: AU What if Hiei wasn't thrown off of the Isle of the Koorime? Does a change in history mean happiness for him? BEING REWRITTEN! Up to Chapter Two is ready for being read!
1. Chapter One

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**A Losing Battle**

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AU What if Hiei hadn't been thrown off of the Isle of the Koorime? What if Yuusuke had been taken in by Raizen before he died the first time? What if Kurama had never been shot by those hunters?

--

_Chapter One_

--

The City of the Koorime was all in a bustle. Rumors flitted across the city of women faster than normal cities could ever wish to, and in less than ten minutes, the whole city knew. Hina of the Mannenyuki House was in labor. Only four months before the city had been ablaze of the rumor that Hina was discovered to be pregnant with a fire demon's children.

"A fire demon, of all things!" Some of the women had cried when they found out, "Other demons might have been acceptable, but a fire demon!?"

Hyoumu of the Tsurara House – the House that was currently ruling the city - was on her way up the stairs of the Mannenyuki House household to witness the birth of the fire demon's spawn. She was to pass judgment. However, everyone knew what the punishment was for something like this. The half fire demon would be thrown from the Floating Isle of the Koorime to die.

She shook my head sadly. Hina would be heartbroken. She already was. Hyoumu had tried to visit her dear friend as often as possible. Every time that she saw the woman, Hina was in tears. There were hundreds produced everyday. Hina saved the first two hiruiseki for her children, and sent the others to her beau, Kurokoge. Hyoumu had been the one who smuggled them out to a messenger that gave them to him. The third hiruiseki that she had cried had been sent separately to him with a note that said that he could sell the other hiruiseki, but not this one; it was his.

Hyoumu hurried past the other Koorime that were helping Hina with the delivery. She arrived just in time to hear the midwife shout, "Now then, Hina-san, you need to push!"

With an effort, she struggled not to cry as the first child emerged. A dark blue wild mat with a white and navy starburst served as his hair. It was so dark that it seemed black. Hina cried out, "My son! My son! My beautiful son!"

However, one of the other midwives was already wrapping him in enchanted scrolls to keep his power over fire at bay. Hina then growled, "Give me back my son or I'll do it!"

So occupied with looking at the half fire demon, Hyoumu hadn't seen Hina grab the dagger hidden under her mattress. She was aiming at her stomach. Her hand was shaking as much as her voice, but it was still aiming at her daughter.

The midwife had stopped the preparation of the child to stare, wide-eyed, at Hina.

Hyoumu gasped, "Hina-san! You know the penalty!"

Hiruiseki dripped from her eyes, "If I can't have him then I won't have any of them. Give me my son. Queen Hyoumu, please! I want my son! If you throw him over I will kill her!"

What was she to do? If they had him thrown him over, Hina would kill her daughter, and that was a crime that would mean her life. The queen had no wish to be the cause of the death of a family, and she turned to the midwife, "Rui-san, that child is under the protection of the Ice Queen, and thus under the protection of the Ice Goddess. Hold him until Hina-san is capable of holding him herself." _Ice Goddess, take me as a fool for it._

Rui smiled a small smile at her, finished wrapping the child with the scrolls, and sat by Hina. Then Hyoumu remembered who the woman was. Rui was another one of Hina's friends – the only one other than the queen herself just then.

The other child's hair was a soft mint green. As she bent over Hina to get a better look at them, Hyoumu noticed that their eyes were a startling color. Even, Yukina, Hina's new full-blooded Koorime daughter, had red eyes. When the five of them were alone, she whispered to Hina in a low voice that she and Rui could hear, but no one from the outside hallway would be able to, "The council won't like this, Hina-chan."

All Hina could mumble through her tears though was, "Thank you, Hyoumu-sama."

--

Koorime - Ice Maidens

Hiruiseki - Ice Tear Pearls

--

Hina cradled her son and daughter in her arms as she was brought onto the stand. The council about the woman looked down on her in disgust, except for Shimo of the Bashira House, who kept fingering one of the hiruiseki pendants around her throat. The queen recognized it as the hiruiseki that the young High Seat had cried for her daughter on her birth who had died three days later. The event had only been a few months ago.

Shimo was very young for her position – the youngest in the room, in fact, since she had not yet reached full womanhood. If she let her light pink hair down more often, she would not have looked as old as she usually did, however, in front of the council, she had to use any weapon at her disposal to gain any type of respect. Her mother had died a mysterious death when she had been ten-years-old. To ensure that her House would not fall in case her mother's fate would be her own, Shimo had a daughter as soon as she was able to produce one; she had been twelve. This was likely the cause of her child's death.

The queen vaguely wondered what she was thinking of, and if she could use it to help Hina.

Hisame of the Sekisetsu House rose to her feet first to question Hina. She threw her dark green hair over her shoulder as she spoke, her eyes flashing cruelty at Hina, "Your firstborn, as I understand, is your … son, correct?"

"Yes, he is."

"You understand the problem with this, right?" At Hina's nod, she continued, "He will be given all of your fortune when you are dead, and males are forbidden to receive any sort of inheritance."

"Then my daughter, Yukina, will receive the inheritance."

"Hina," she said with a sickening smile while shaking her head, "second born daughters cannot receive your titles however. Your house will go to ruin, and the title will be tossed to whatever House wants the estate blemished by a man's blood." She sat back down with a smug look on her face.

The queen frowned behind her fan, _I bet you would like that too. You'd receive something in the process. You would have made sure of that._ She had never liked that woman, and with that in mind Hyoumu smirked slightly as she stood, _This should push her back a step._ "Hisame-san, in our laws it says this, 'All firstborn _daughters_ will receive the inheritance of titles,' and Yukina is her firstborn daughter."

Hisame flinched, and she sat down. The remainder of the council moved restlessly then, looking back and forth between each other as they whispered to those beside themselves.

Shimo stood hesitantly in the quiet noise of the room, and her hands were no longer fingering her hiruiseki, but were at her sides as if they hadn't been anywhere else. Almost hissing, the queen thought to herself as she watched the doll-like figure, _A loose card. She could ruin things for Hina and her children._

Shimo's quiet voice bounced around the large vaulted room, and made it seem louder than it actually was, "That still leaves us with the question of what we should do with him. There is no law against having sons, but there are also no laws about what are to be done with them. We were born of the Ice Goddess who hated men, but she did not ban _us_ from them. We, the Koorime, in our vanity and pride shunned ourselves from men _and_ the outside world. We altered the Ice Goddess's laws to suit our own desires. However, after we almost corrupted ourselves by doing this, thousands of years ago, we stopped changing the laws, and tried to put them back into some semblance of order. Nowhere in our mess that we call our laws does it say to throw away our sons. This was just an outdated tradition that we have done because of our vanity. If Hina of the Mannenyuki House wants to keep her son, then I say that we allow her to. However . . ." she tilted her head to the side to look down on Hina in the stand with her newborn twins.

_She just let Hina keep her son!_ Hyoumu thought ecstatically. _If that doesn't win them over, nothing will._

"However, something must be done quickly about his control over fire."

"What do you suggest that we do?" Hyoumu stood finally, and asked of her. "We know nothing of fire, other than it could destroy the entire Isle of the Koorime."

Shimo was silent for a moment before raising her eyes from the mother and her children, "We keep referring to him as half fire demon when, in fact, he is also half Koorime. We could teach him how to control his ice power to counteract his fire power." She let the council mull that over before adding, "Perhaps, we put him to use in our defenses of the Isle?"

"Oh? You wish for him to become a warrior in our army?"

"Possibly, or we could train him to become part of your Royal Guard."

Tenka of the Ooyuki House stood, smoothing out her dress in the process. Her dark pink hair – on the verge of being called red – was pulled back into three braids, which made her look child-like, and thus, she was often underestimated, "We should put him in the outer defense in case his fire demon side shows more than his Koorime side."

As the council began to bicker over where to place him, how he was to be trained, and whether they should exercise his fire powers to put them to our advantage, the queen snuck a peek at Hina. She was smiling down on her son and daughter. Hiruiseki were falling from her eyes again, this time in happiness.

--

"They still haven't decided on what to do with him," Hyoumu chuckled.

The queen was sitting across the small table from Hina. Her blue hair shone softly in the light of the ice chandeliers above them, and Hina realized that she had let it down for once. The cradles to Hina's right were slowly being rocked by her feet. Down, up, down. Slower than a snail's pace, "That's all right with me. It's not as if he'll need to go into training right away. In two or three years, he'll begin his training for whatever they keep their mind on for longer than three seconds."

Hyoumu laughed anew, "He, him, his. I haven't heard his name once since he was born."

The mother frowned slightly, "I haven't decided whether to honor his Koorime side or his fire demon side. I have the hiragana in mind, but not the kanji."

Smirked, and tapping her foot thoughtfully, Hyoumu gazed over my son's sleeping form, and then her foot stopped, "Don't honor either."

"What?"

Hyoumu's smile was one of delight, "Snip the council's collective ass, and use a kanji that doesn't involve either ice or fire."

She giggled at her audacity. Kurokoge had been much like her. At the thought of him, Hina's breath left her as she contemplated the father of her son who looked much like each other – their red eyes, and flame-like hair …

Hyoumu frowned slightly, sitting back as she looked at her in worry, "You might see him again."

"Maybe," Hina had no hope of ever seeing him again. She remembered the way he had seemed to fly into her window to give her one last embrace … She gasped then, and began to giggle, "Hiei."

"What are you talking about?"

"His name is Hiei."

--

**Note On Hiei's Name:** The kanji 'ice' and 'fire' each have the hiragana 'hi' in them, so it could have meant either. In actuality though, his name means 'Flying Phantom' because in the kanji that means 'fly' there is the hiragana 'hi.'

--

**Five Years Later**

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"Big brother! Hiei-san! The council wants to see you!" He heard Yukina shout from the ground.

Young heirs to Houses were often made to be little errand girls, and Yukina had been given the task of being the messenger between their mother and the council on issues that dealt with Hiei. She had never really shouted before however, so the reason behind the message must have been important. What would the council say this time around?

Hiei jumped down to the ground beside Yukina, who jumped at the sight of him landing directly in front of her. She giggled once she got over her fright, "Big brother, you're going to get really hurt one day, and then you won't be jumping around everywhere anymore."

Shrugging, not truly concerned about such a thing, he asked, "Do they just want me or do they want Mom to come too?"

"They only want you."

He tried not to swallow a lump, but Yukina felt his distress anyway, and patted his shoulder to comfort him. Hiei had never been summoned in front the council alone, and he could think of only one cause for them to call him in this way. The council had come to their verdict, and they were ready to put the young boy in whatever division they had deigned would benefit the Koorime Isle.

--

"My queen, you called me?" He bowed low. Hiei had stopped only at his home to change into some suitable clothes. They were itchy, and this meant that they were formal.

Queen Hyoumu chuckled low in her throat. That was always how she laughed. Deep and low in her throat, "Hiei-chan, the council and I have debated over your training for well over five years. Only now have we come to a conclusion." She stopped, which made him look up at her. The action suddenly made him swallow a lump in his throat when he saw that they were all staring down on him. "We want _you_ to choose where you think that you will serve the Koorime best."

_They're letting **me** choose?_ With so many paths to choose from, this seemed like a boggling task for the young boy. He had always wanted to be part of his mother's House Guard, but she had advised him against choosing that option if it ever came down to choosing on his own. _One of the House Guards. I'll have to pick one of the Houses to serve. Then I won't be part of Mom's House anymore, and they won't think that she'd give me any special treatment._ His mother had taught him as best as she could in the way of politics, and he didn't want to give them another reason to hate his one and only mother.

However, which one would he choose? There were just so many! He would not be able to pick the Tsurara House for that was the Queen's House, and she was his mother's friend.

The Sekisetsu House was off-limits due to the fact that their High Seat, Hisame, hated him with a passion. She had tried to convince Queen Hyoumu to throw Hiei off the Isle dozens of times.

The Ooyuki House was the one that had convinced Queen Hyoumu to cast an enchantment on him until he was ten-years-old. It was a ward to protect Hiei and others, which made her House a possibility. Tenka, the High Seat, only wanted to protect the Koorime from whatever threat that he seemed to possess.

Shimo, High Seat of the Bashira House, was the one that had persuaded everyone not to throw him over, and that made for another good prospect.

The Hyou House had Arare as the High Seat. She had tried to persuade them into hiring a demon to train Hiei to control whatever threatening powers he held. His mother had advised him against them as well however. Arare apparently wanted to use him as a weapon.

The High Seat of Hyouzan, Koorimizu, had wanted Hiei trained to control the power too, but his mother had told him that all Koorimizu had ever wanted to do was protect the Koorime.

That left the Ooyuki, the Bashira and the Hyouzan Houses, and so Hiei finally chose, "I would like to serve the Bashira House."

--

His mother and Yukina each bid him farewell. Hiei was to report at the Bashira Household in an hour, and during that time, he had rid himself of his mother's house colors, which were white and purple. Since he was a part of the Bashira House, Hiei would wear their colors, which were black and navy blue.

Hina had said jokingly before he left for the Bashira Household, "You look much more handsome in those colors. White and purple don't flatter you at all."

Judging his speed, Hiei figured that he would be at the Bashira Household in a minute or so, but he didn't want to go straight there – he wanted to see someone first. Yukionna would want to know what was truly going on. Rumors were flitting about the Isle, and most were likely so far from the truth that it was staggering.

He was at her booth in the marketplace in seconds. When he stopped right in front of her booth, he scared her so badly that she jumped, "Hiei! Don't do that to an old woman."

"Yukionna-baasan, you're not _that_ old," he smiled.

She laughed, "You cheeky little rascal." Yukionna looked around her clothing booth, which made her silver hair swing, and when she saw that no one was heading to interfere, she whispered, "So, Hiei-chan, I see that you're heading for the Bashira House. Shimo-sama will treat you well."

"You think so?"

"I _know_ so. She thinks that you are an absolute doll," she giggled. "I don't think that she knows you very well."

Hiei grinned, showing his strange fangs. Yukionna laughed harder before she calmed down enough to ask, "So, is that all you wanted to say?"

"Nope," Hiei grinned even wider.

"No?"

"I'm taking you out for lunch, but I have to be at the Bashira Household in an hour."

She giggled, "Oh, you're such a sweetheart, Hiei-chan. Let me get my daughter to keep shop for now."

--

Obaasan, Baasan, Baba - Grandmother, Old Woman

--

Some few hours later, Shimo walked the young boy through her courtyard where her Guards trained.

"Here, you will be given the best training that I can offer you. The first thing that you will be taught is the sword. As you know very well, the Bashira House holds the very best swordswomen on the entire Floating Isle."

Hiei cocked his head to the side before he asked curiously, "Shimo-sama, who will teach me?"

"I will."

"You?" He looked first at her hands. Hiei noticed suddenly that they were calloused and rough, unlike his mother's hands, which had always been smooth and soft.

"Yes, Hiei-kun. I am the best swordswoman to be found anywhere on our Isle." She smiled down on him, and he found himself smiling back, "After I teach you the sword, I will teach you how to use your power to make the Hyou Jin. After you have learned this technique, I will teach you our House Weapon, the Koori Ken."

Much more sophisticated than the Hyou Jin, the Koori Ken looked more like a sword than an icicle, and it had the ability to freeze anything other than the bearer. It was a formidable weapon in the hands of an expert swordswoman, and, as Bashira's Weapon of the House, there were few that could withstand it.

Mannenyuki's Weapon of the House wasn't truly a weapon, but it was deadly to those not of ice origin. It was said that human could be frozen solid in moments. Hiei had been taught the smaller version of it. Hyou Setsu wo Futte was a command to the sky to make a snowstorm. Dai Hyou Setsu wo Futte was the one more often called a weapon, and this command made a tremendous blizzard.

The queen wanted Hiei to learn the bigger version before officially becoming part of the Bashira House Guard. For the next few months or so, he would be going back and forth between the Bashira Household and the Mannenyuki Household to learn it.

Having been of the nobility of a House, Hiei had to be taught the Weapon of the House and all of its versions.

Hiei would be a formidable opponent when he was older. He could feel it.

--

Feeling a smack against his back, Hiei landed hard against the ground, rolling across the courtyard. Shimo said softly, "You're dead. You'll have to try harder than that, Hiei-kun. I saw through your feint. Either become faster or hide your intentions."

It had been seven months since he had come into the Bashira House's service. Since then, he had finished his training of the Dai Hyou Setsu wo Futte five months before, and he could now realize that Shimo had been going easy on him for those first two months, giving him the chance to concentrate better on his training between the two Houses. It was also possible that she had been soft on him so that his mother wouldn't see the bruises.

Hiei had learned through these months that Shimo was not as gentle as she had put out. Shimo was a harsh teacher, and she expected the very best out of him all the time.

She sighed, "Hiei-kun … go take a shower."

That sigh, he knew, meant that she was disappointed in him. Hiei shouted at her retreating form, "Shimo-sensei, I want to try again! Please, Shimo-sensei!"

She looked back at him, her eyebrow perking upwards, "Are you sure?"

"Yes! I want to try again!" He nodded, lurched to his feet, and then got into an offensive stance.

He waited for her to go into a defensive stance, and attacked quickly. She easily blocked all of his attacks, and, with a flick of her wrist, she swung the practice blade so that he would trip. However, for once, Hiei dodged this, and took a full swing at her shoulder. Since he was not as strong as she was, it likely did nothing but sting her.

The look on her face was priceless. When the two were settled, she standing, and Hiei breathing hard as he sat on the snow-covered ground, Shimo said with a smile, "Hiei-kun, go take a shower."

"Yes, Shimo-sensei!" He said, jogging across the courtyard before he stopped to run back, and put his wooden sword away.

She called after him, "You can have the rest of the day off, Hiei-kun. Tomorrow, I'll teach you the Hyou Jin."

Stopping, he stared at her, "Really?"

She chuckled, "Go! You smell, Hiei!"

Nodding numbly, he ran as fast as he was able to at that moment. Hiei was especially tired, but he gained new energy at those words. Shimo was going to teach him how to make the Hyou Jin!

--

"Yukionna-baasan! Yukionna-baasan!"

"What is it, Hiei-chan?" The old Koorime turned to him with a wide smile on her face.

He motioned for her to come closer, and he whispered in her ear, "Shimo-sensei is going to teach me the Hyou Jin tomorrow."

"Oh my!" She said with a vast smile on her face. "My Hiei-chan is growing up before my very eyes! I'm so proud of you!" Then she looked him up and down with a frown, "What are you doing telling _me_ this? You think that you can hassle me into getting you a sweet bun don't you? You rascal!" She laughed, "Go bug your mother, Hiei-kun."

Kun? The smile on his face became even wider. Shimo was going to teach him the Hyou Jin tomorrow, and Yukionna had called him 'Hiei-kun!'

Hurrying to my mother's Household, Hiei spotted Yukina drawing in a sketchpad on the sidewalk, and stepped up behind her with a smile, "Yukina-chan!"

She jumped at the sound of his voice being so close, and then cried out in joy, "Hiei-san! What are you doing here?" She got to her feet to give her brother a hug.

"Shimo-sensei is going to teach me the Hyou Jin tomorrow!"

"That's wonderful, big brother! Mother is inside. Come on!" Yukina grabbed his hand, and pulled him inside, telling the guards that Hiei was her guest when they attempted to stop him from entering. "Mother! Mother! Hiei-san is here! He has a surprise!"

Their mother was sitting in her study, looking over some documents, when the two came in. "Yukina-chan! Hiei-chan! What are you two doing?"

"I'm going to learn how to make the Hyou Jin tomorrow!"

--

Going through the hallway of the Bashira Household to his room later that same night, Hiei tried to keep back a yawn. Hina had taken her family to dinner to celebrate. It might have been the last time that Hiei would have dinner as a family after all. When he learned the Hyou Jin, he would officially be a part of the Bashira House Guard, and thus Hiei wouldn't be able to visit his mother and younger sister as often as he would like. However, he was growing up, and as such, he had to show them all how grown up he was. His mother wouldn't like it if he continued to cling to her.

A sudden rumble shook the ground, and made Hiei fall to the tiled floor in a heap. The House Guard as a whole came out of their rooms, ceased playing cards, or stopped drinking in the common room. One of the Personal Guards helped the boy to his feet, and Hiei recognized who the golden head belonged to, and asked her, "Yukiyake-san, what's happening?"

"That felt like an explosion," then she looked him up and down suspiciously.

_Explosion? Doesn't that mean there's a fire?_ He shivered, and looked up at the older Koorime for guidance. Unexpectedly, Yukiyake began to sift through his mind, but it was in a way that he knew that she was checking his enchantment. She nodded thoughtfully, and pulled her searches away. _She thinks I did something? Why?_

Then Shimo's voice called out, barking orders, "Find out what that was! I think that it came from the Ice Palace! Arrange a guard for me! I want to find out what is going on now! Where is Hiei? He needs to come with me!"

--

Queen Hyoumu was dead. Someone had planted a bomb in her chamber. She had gone to bed early, and then …

She was dead. She used to give Hiei sweets whenever they saw each other. She was his mother's best friend, and she was dead. She had taught him how to make ice sculptures by making ice columns grow from the ground, and chipping at the ice. All of the ice sculptures that he had ever made for her had melted in the flames.

Hiei shivered, and his hand tightened over the ice cutter,_ Who would bring fire here? Someone from below?_

Currently sitting in front of an ice column, Hiei was carefully chipping away at it. Upon his arrival, Hiei had sat down with his mother and sister, to watch the wake, and listen to the ceremony. Only hours later had he been able to approach the coffin, and created an ice column, soon chiseling at the ice. The piece was almost finished, and he stepped back to study Hyoumu's form before he began working at the more detailed parts of her face. The sculpture was of her sitting on the ground with a large book in her hand – just as Hiei remembered her most. He stopped finally, and stepped back to look at it from another angle, and before long noticed something was missing. Hesitantly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out two dark blue hiruiseki.

Carving out small notches in her eyes, Hiei placed his hiruiseki where the new sockets were. They were the exact color of her eyes.

--

…_-waves-_

_So! I want to know. Which one of you guys are ready to kill me for abandoning this fandom and fic for what … almost two years? Well, I'm back now for some rewriting. Not sure whether or not I'll be adding new scenes, but if I see an opening for one and I'm inspired, then don't be surprised to see something you don't remember. As for any **new** faces here … Hi!_

--


	2. Chapter Two

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**A Losing Battle**

--

AU What if Hiei hadn't been thrown off of the Isle of the Koorime? What if Yuusuke had been taken in by Raizen before he died the first time? What if Kurama had never been shot by those hunters?

--

_Chapter Two_

--

**Three Years Later**

--

It was strange to suddenly think of her. She had been dead for three years.

They had used Hiei's ice sculpture as Hyoumu's tombstone as per the new queen's orders. Thinking of Hyoumu as his former queen hadn't been as hard as he had thought, but for him to refer to his own mother as the Ice Queen was a strange task. After Hyoumu's death, the council had elected his mother as their new queen. He saw her so very little.

He found it very odd that examining the enchantment placed upon him was making Hiei remember her. Hiei had been sitting there for close to an hour, sitting in the dark, and looking over the enchantment. There were no marks on his body to show for it, only in his mind. The enchantment had been placed so that a certain part of his power was inaccessible. Perhaps, looking at it made had made him recall how Yukiyake examined it for faults when Hyoumu's chambers erupted in flames.

In two more years, the council would have decided on the course of action concerning his threatening powers. He wondered why this unknown power of his was so dangerous. Did he have hidden reserves of untold strength, and did they fear that je would turn against them? However, he seriously doubted that for some reason.

So, Hiei was still sitting there, looking at this ward inside of his mind when there came a knock on his door. He sat up with a frown, "Who's there?"

"Hiei-kun, your training of the Weapon of the Bashira House begins."

_Shimo!_ "Shimo-sensei? Now? Tonight?"

"What better time than in the dark of night, and when no one knows what we are doing?" She said, slipping into his small chambers. She frowned slightly, "Hiei-kun, why are you still awake?"

"I couldn't sleep. I was thinking."

She sat on the edge of my bed, "Thinking about what, Hiei-kun?"

"Hyoumu."

"You miss her, don't you?" She said with a sad smile. Hiei nodded, crawled to where she was sitting, and curled up against her side. Shimo cooed into his hair, "It's all right."

"They still haven't found anything about the killer." It was true. No clues whatsoever had been found. Whoever it was had been an expert. An expert killer. An expert murderer …

She only nodded, and rubbed the back of his neck, causing a soothing sensation to go through him, "Come now. We must train you before dawn is here."

He unwrapped himself from her, and followed his liege lady out to the courtyard.

She murmured softly to him in the dark, "One must mix their power with that of ice, and form an ice blade in their hands to make the Hyou Jin, correct?"

This was common knowledge to all Koorime, so he nodded, "Yes, Shimo-sensei."

"I am teaching you how to make the Koori Ken because you are now strong enough to make it. When making the Koori Ken, you must do the first step of making the Hyou Jin." Shimo did so, and he watched and felt as ice joined with her energy to create a blade. This was an unfinished Hyou Jin though since she hadn't separated herself from the blade yet. "After that, however, you must give the blade a pulse."

"A pulse?"

"Send your energy through it like it is an extension of you. Let it beat along with your heart. If you don't, the blade will disappear before you have a chance to use it."

Hiei could feel it then, the pulse of Shimo's energy and that of the Koori Ken. The blade was she, and she was the blade! He had only seen the Koori Ken made once before, and that had had been during a battle, about two years ago. A large group of the Bashira Guard had made the Koori Ken.

Beginning to form the blade slowly, Hiei tried to remember how they had done it. _Form the blade, pulsate my energy along with the blade … Feel the pulse …_

He sliced experimentally at a wooden practice blade when he was done, the wooden sword freezing instantly, and he watched the two frozen pieces clatter to the floor.

The gasp behind him made him lose control of the Koori Ken, and it disappeared.

"Hiei-kun, no one has ever created a Koori Ken on their first try."

It had been more natural than the Hyou Jin. The Hyou Jin had not a part of him, thus, it had been a strange and ungainly weapon, making most of his training for the past several years rather difficult.

The Bashira House Guard had gone below to get rid of a group of thieves in the area. It had been Hiei's first battle, and he had killed for the first time. He could not let that bother him then, however because he had a job to do. He had to serve the House of Bashira and his people.

Yes, thinking back, he believed that he had made the Koori Ken then as well. They had ambushed he and his division, and the boy had acted on instinct. Strangely enough though, he remembered trying to pull power from behind the enchantment. That had seemed just as natural as taking energy from his unprotected ice power. It felt normal and natural to have a sword that was a part of him, and that pulsed along with his energy.

No one had commented on it that day though. The sword had been gone before anyone had noticed.

--

Shimo sent Hiei to be a part of the Bashira Personal Guard soon after. Yukiyake was the Captain of Shimo's Personal Guard and as such Yukiyake should have taken over his training. Yet Shimo wanted to continue training him. Yukiyake had questioned putting him in the Personal Guard, but after looking through Hiei's records, she had consented hesitantly.

Hiei was on his way to see Yukionna with Yukina in tow. He saw Yukina more often than his mother, but he saw Yukionna more often than Yukina.

Yukionna gasped overdramatically, grinning, "Yukina-hime! What a pleasure to meet you!"

Yukina giggled, "You know me, Obaasan."

"Yes, but I've never met _Yukina-hime_. I never see you anymore, Yukina-chan," then she began to cough.

"Are you all right, Yukionna-baasan?" Hiei asked.

"I'm just a little warm. Been so for a week or so." She winked at the two, "I know that I don't look it, children, but I'm old."

Yukina giggled again, but I frowned slightly, "Yukionna-baasan …"

"Hmm? Go on, Hiei-kun. What is it?"

"How old are you?"

Looking through us, like she always did when she was thinking, Yukionna started to smile, and tapped their noses, "Older than you."

Hiei thought about that for a moment, "Are you going to die soon?" He had heard that really, really, really old demon's answers became strange and cryptic the older that they became.

"Maybe. That's the thing about Death. You never know when he'll pop up." She chuckled, pinching Hiei's nose, "Like most men."

He rubbed the abused nose, and mumbles, "Can't you plan a meeting with Death?"

"Hiei-kun," she scolded him, "that is the coward's way. I would never plan to meet with him."

"You're just going to wait to die? Don't you want to know when you're going, at least?"

She looked the twins both up and down, and then, finally, she nodded to herself, "You two keep this in mind: true courage is not winning the war; it is fighting in the losing battle."

She died a couple days later. Yukiyake wouldn't let Hiei go to her wake however, because he had to train. He did not blame her for making him miss the wake for he knew that he had a duty to the Bashira House.

Yukionna would have understood.

--

**One Year Later**

--

Hiei was a part of Shimo's entourage to the palace for a meeting that evening, and he and Yukiyake had been assigned as the two guards that would ride in the carriage with her. Shimo had been staring out the window the whole time.

Hiei stared at his feet. They still couldn't touch the ground. Shimo had said that he would probably never be terribly tall, but he would be taller than if he had survived the fall to the ground at his birth and lived. Deprived of the essential nutrients to become taller, she had said that Hiei probably wouldn't have been able feed himself properly enough to be of any serious height. However, since he had been fed well his entire life, she thought that he would become taller.

He was still short even though her mentioning of growth spurts had cheered him up. Though she had made no sense whatsoever. Shimo had told him that certain things happened to a woman's body when she turned into a teenager. When Hiei had asked her what would happen to him, Shimo had gotten quiet, and her face had become blank. She didn't know. She had dealt with women's changing bodies all her life, and she had never come across a man's changing body. Shimo presumed that Hiei's voice would get much deeper than it was now, and he would become taller than most of them, but other than that she was clueless.

When they arrived at the palace, Shimo gave Hiei a note, "Give this to the Captain of the Royal Guards. Her name is Riku. It is urgent that you give this to her as soon as possible. After that, you are free to train with the others."

As he went in search of Riku, Shimo went to the council meeting.

The only problem with this task was that Hiei had no idea who Riku was or what she looked like. For all he knew, she had been one of the Koorime with his mother as he passed by. The Ice Queen couldn't even spare her son a glance, but he held back the grief that this caused. She had many duties than Hiei had to perform, and was too busy and important. His mother probably hadn't even seen the boy.

Starting to ask servants, they all pointed Hiei in a vague direction to the woman until he finally reached a door that said, 'Riku, Captain of the Royal Guards', and he knocked hesitantly on the door.

Someone from inside barked, "Enter."

He cracked the door open to peek inside, "Eh … Captain Riku, Shimo-sama wanted me to give you this."

Riku looked at the note in his hand. She stood up from her desk, and took the note before opening it, and smirking, "Foolish woman."

There was something strange about the energy in the room – something almost familiar – like something that he hadn't felt in a very long time. Hiei could feel his ward stir slightly as if whatever was inside was stretching. Pinpointing the strange feeling, he eyed a piece of wax on her desk. There was a strange light floating just above it that was yellow on the outside, orange farther in, and blue in the center. It seemed to be emitting an odd gray trail up into the air.

"Captain Riku," he asked, "what's that?"

Riku paled, "Nothing, boy." She folded the piece of paper, putting it in her pocket while she blew out the strange light with her breath, and then asked me, "Are you free right now?"

"Yeah. Shimo-sama said I could train with the other guards."

"Well, will you train with me instead?"

Hiei brightened, and his hands clamped into fists, "Really? I'd love to!"

She smirked again, "This way."

--

As Shimo walked out of the council room, she said to one of her guards as calmly as she was able, "Let us find Hiei."

The whole meeting had been frustrating! Hiei should have found Riku in time for the woman to come to the council, and reveal Hisame's plot. Shimo had all of the proof in that note. Riku should have come _running_. She had been one of Shimo's Guards before she had asked to be transferred to the Royal Guards – Riku had been a friend. _Unless, Riku is working for Hisame, now,_ the thought made her footsteps quicken.

When they reached the courtyard, she and her Personal Guards met with a wall of Koorime. They made a rough circle around what was going on in the courtyard. Shimo could hear the clang of two Hyou Jin, and she looked around for Hiei. She forced her way through the wall of Koorime when she didn't spot him right away, and hoped that he wasn't doing what she thought he was.

The Guards separated for Shimo and her Guards when they realized who they were, and her lips tightened in irritation when she saw that the people fighting in the courtyard were Riku and Hiei. Riku was more experienced than Hiei; he probably would have been defeated long ago if not for his natural speed. However, _Riku_ was the one taking the brunt of the battle, and Hiei looked fresh. To Shimo, it seemed that not even a fold of his clothing was out of place. They were both using Hyou Jin, and it did not look as if blood had been shed, yet.

Finally, Riku said, "Hiei-kun, let's not fight with the boring Hyou Jin any longer. Let us show these fine Koorime the Koori Ken."

Hiei's eyes narrowed, and Shimo could almost see the wheels in his head turning. Just what was she up to? The Hyou Jin in his hands disappeared though, and the Koori Ken replaced it. Riku did the same. The two combatants faced off for a moment, and then Riku attacked. Hiei disappeared before she could reach him however, and reappeared behind her, slashing at her back. He had always seemed so much more at ease when using the Koori Ken. Apparently, Riku had been unaware of Hiei's adeptness with the weapon – Shimo knew that he could have been mistaken for a master swordsman.

She also knew that Riku was not one of the best swordswomen around. She could have been counted as an average.

Riku somehow dodged that attack, and their blades locked when she swung at him again. They stood staring at each other, pushing on their blades. Riku, since she was the stronger, was slowly pushing Hiei back, who slid back easily. Suddenly there was a strong flash of youki from Hiei, and I could see the waves of freezing air around his blade leap about Riku, and freeze her in a solid block of ice. Hiei leveled his sword at Riku's neck as he waited for her to break free, as all Koorime could do.

When Riku broke free a moment later, Hiei said, "You're dead."

--

"You did very well, Hiei-kun," Shimo said on their way out the door.

Suddenly, there was an abrupt pain in Hiei's back, and he could dimly hear Shimo cry out his name. Someone was straightening his body onto his stomach so that his injured back wouldn't get any further agitated.

Shimo's soft voice above him was worried, "Don't worry; it's only a flesh wound. The arrow just grazed you. A couple stitches, and you'll be fine."

_Then why does it hurt so much?_ Hiei then realized that Shimo was cradling his head in her bosom, and he nestled in deeper, trying to forget the pain lashing through him.

"Hiei-chan!" _Mom?_

There was a thud, as if a body had hit the ground, and Shimo didn't move, but she cried out, "Hina-sama!"

"Mom?" The Koorime around the two were then hurrying toward where Hiei had heard the body drop. Hiei tried to turn to see what was going on, but all he could see of the body was an arrow sticking out of a purple silk kimono. He tried to place where he had seen the design and cut before, and his eyes shifted drowsily to the head of mint green hair before his blood ran cold. Hadn't she been wearing …!?

"Mom! Mom! Mom!" He struggled to break free of Shimo, but her arms were wrapped too tightly around him, and Hiei soon stopped struggling, "Mom …"

"She's dead." Someone murmured.

_It's a lie. Right? Mom's fine. A couple of stitches, and she'll be fine. That's all I need. Why isn't Mom the same?_

--

"Hiei, please talk to me. I know it hurts. I know how you feel. You need to let it all out."

By now, his wound had healed. Shimo had refused to let anyone but herself treat to Hiei's wounds, and, for two weeks, only she had attended to the young boy. Shimo was rubbing his back in a gesture of comfort. Yukina had been appointed the title of High Seat of the Mannenyuki House. The council hadn't chosen a new queen yet, but according to Shimo it seemed as if they were indecisive between Yukina and Hisame.

Shimo wanted to make sure that Hisame didn't win for some reason. She was leaving for another council meeting in an hour because they were going to select the new Ice Queen that day.

So, his mother was dead. All he had left was Yukina and …

"Shimo …" his voice cracked since he couldn't remember the last time that he had spoken.

"Yes … Hiei?"

"Promise me that you won't go away."

She smiled sadly, "I'll keep that promise. I'll never leave you forever … but only if you do me the same courtesy."

--

Hiei made a poor effort to smile, recalling how his mother had used to be so busy, "Congratulations, Queen Shimo."

She did not look entirely pleased with her situation, but, upon seeing Hiei's hesitant smile, her face brightened considerably. Then she looked him up and down, "It is almost time, Hiei."

"What do you mean? Time for what?"

"Almost time for you to make a major decision."

That was another way for her to say that she wasn't going to answer him. As she sat on her new bed, Hiei asked her, "Why aren't you happy? Don't you want to be the Ice Queen?"

"When I was a little girl, I had always dreamed of being the Ice Queen, but I was forced into growing up too soon," she shook her head slightly before smiling. "I had to fight to be recognized as what I was, a High Seat of a House. I could no longer dream about being a queen. In truth, I don't think I ever wanted to really be the Ice Queen, Hiei. I have other plans, and this new position will just cause more problems."

Hiei knew that Shimo was a brilliant tactician, so he believed that she would find something good about her new position that she hadn't seen at first. He wanted to know what she was planning, but Hiei also knew that he would be ignored or worse.

Shimo inspected him again, tapping her lip with her finger, "You will need to begin another sort of training. Training that will be very useful for me."

His thin brow creased in confusion, "What kind of training?"

"Yukiyake is going to take up your training from now on since I will be …" she twisted her mouth in disgust, "preoccupied. She will train you to become my new spymaster. People will suspect things about Yukiyake soon. I want to use that to my advantage for a while. If they think that Yukiyake is my spymaster then they won't suspect you. At least, not as much, and sometimes, that's good enough"

_She's trusting **me** to be her spymaster?_ "Shimo …?"

"You'd be perfect for the job. You have a small build, a sharp mind, and deadly precision with a sword." She smiled, "Hiei-san, I want you to be my spymaster in place of Yukiyake. Do you accept?"

Hiei bowed low even as his heart began to pound, "I accept, Queen Shimo."

"Remember, Hiei-san, we will need all kinds of strengths to use against our enemy. I will tell you everything in the morning, if my schedule permits it. If not, then visit Yukiyake, and tell her that you have accepted my invitation. She will know what you mean."

--

**One Year Later**

--

On his tenth birthday, Hiei was summoned before the council once more. According to Shimo, the council would tell Hiei what was under the mysterious ward in his mind. He had to decide what to do about it.

Koorimizu of the Hyouzan House stood, and addressed him, a slight tremor to her voice, "You - Hiei adopted into the Ruling House, Bashira, from the Mannenyuki House - have been summoned here to learn of your origins, and of the power you possess inside you."

Keeping his eyes straight, he practiced his blank face while watching Koorimizu. Every now and again, he felt himself twitch, but didn't allow himself to look at anyone else – should he do so, he didn't know how he would react if his eyes landed on Hisame.

Hisame of the Sekisetsu House had killed his mother. Not by her own hands to be sure, but by her own doing. No one else knew who had killed the late queen yet. Shimo suspected that Hisame's work had undone Hyoumu as well.

Shimo had been dropping hints for the past half year about strengths and powers to use against her. The strengths and powers that Hiei suspected might be covered by the enchantment. Yukiyake had been training the boy hard. She thought that he was coming along very well, and that – with some more training and effort – Hiei could easily become the new spymaster in a couple months.

"As you very well know, your mother, the late Ice Queen of the Mannenyuki House, made contact with a male demon, and reproduced with him almost eleven years ago. You and the High Seat Yukina of the Mannenyuki House were the result." Frowning slightly when he saw Koorimizu swallow hard, he shifted uneasily, abruptly aware of dark, hard stares that he couldn't see, "What you don't know is that your sire is a fire demon."

Attempting to formulate thoughts after this statement, Hiei slowly started to piece the words that he had hear into something more understandable, for what he had heard couldn't have made less sense. _I'm a fire demon?_ Then the enchantment was ripped away.

Hiei had opened his mouth to scream at the pain, yet stopped short, panting from the immensity of the power revealed there – the scorching, burning, smoldering heat of the flames of his mind.

As he fell to my knees, he warbled out, "I … I want to … this … this is …"

--

"So, you're leaving." Shimo said as she closed the door behind her. "I thought you weren't going to leave me, Hiei-san."

He looked up at her, and tilted his head to the side in his bewilderment, "For now, Shimo-sama. It's just for a little bit." Hiei bit his tongue after seeing the sorrow on her face, and realized that it was a terrible lie. It would be much longer than 'a little bit.'

She knelt to the floor, and held her arms out. He dashed away from his satchel, and dove inside of her surprisingly warm arms, "Hiei, I will miss you. I'm missing you already. Come back safe."

"My queen, I will come back. I'll miss you too." Hiei kissed her cheek, and pulled away, abruptly aware of the hiruiseki falling from her eyes.

She picked them up, and placed them into his hands, "These are yours. To do with as you wish."

"I can't sell those, Shimo!" He said, trying to put them back into her hands, but he stopped short when Shimo's hand was holding something out to him. It was a necklace with a soft pink hiruiseki pendant – the same color of her hair and the hiruiseki in his hand.

"This is my daughter's hiruiseki. Shinsetsu's hiruiseki. I want you to have it."

"I …" he looked up at her, almost about to tell her to keep it. Yet, the love in her eyes made his free hand wrap around the pendant, and he swallowed nothing before he put it on. "Thank you, Shimo. This means a lot to me because … I know that it means a lot to you."

She kissed his forehead then, and cradled him gently before she left the room, saying as she exited, "I love you, Hiei."

--

… _Hurray, the lameness is over! Meh, sometimes you just can't help some of the slightly cheddar cheesey parts of stories … XP_

_Hah! Now it's time to get into more fights!_

--


End file.
